Autobot

The Autobots are a fictional faction of sentient robots in the Transformers multimedia franchise. The Autobots are living robots from the planet Cybertron who, like most Transformers, are each imbued with a unique "life force" known as a "spark." Led by Optimus Prime in most stories, the Autobots believe that "freedom is the right of all sentient life" and are often engaged in a civil war with the Decepticons, a faction of Transformers dedicated to military conquest and usually headed by Megatron. In a mirror universe portrayed in Transformers: Shattered Glass, the Autobots are villains opposed by the heroic Decepticons.

The transformation cog ("T-cog") and the living metal of each transformer's body allows them to change from their natural robotic body into an "alternate mode" based on some form of technology or life that they have scanned. When they were first introduced, most Autobots transformed into cars, trucks and other road vehicles. Over time, Autobots have been introduced with alternate modes that include aircraft, weapons, robotic animals, or a variety of devices (such as music equipment or microscopes). In most Transformers media, the Autobots originally transform into alien-style vehicles and technology native to their home planet Cybertron, but they later adopt alternate forms based on human technology after journeying to Earth.

In the live action films series, as well as in the CGI-animated series Transformers: Prime, the title Autobots is explained to be the short version of the title "Autonomous Robotic Organisms." In Japan, the Autobots are called "Cybertrons" (サイバトロン, Saibatoron) but are referred to as Autobots (オートボット, Ōtobotto) in the film series Transformers: Animated and Transformers: Prime. In Italy, they are called "Autorobot." The Autobot insignia is also sometimes referred to as an "Autobrand", a term that first appeared in issue #14 of the Marvel Comics series. The descendants of the Autobots, the Maximals from Transformers: Beast Wars, are also known as Cybertrons in Japan.

Autobots are living beings, sometimes referred to as "bio-mechanical" and often depicted as being forged from the same "living metal" that makes up their home planet Cybertron. This living metal can heal, grow, and regenerate like organic cell structures. Autobots, like all transformers, need to regularly feed on Energon (a form of energy they can produce from certain fuel sources) or they will grow weaker in health and eventually die. Autobots can also age, just much slower than humans, for example Optimus Prime is approximately 9 million years old. Whereas the first homo sapiens evolved 300,000 years ago.

Since the airing of the animated series Transformers: Beast Wars, the franchise has consistently portrayed that what distinguishes a Transformer as "living" is that each of them is imbued with a "spark", a charged mass of positrons that acts as a "life force" (said to be equivalent to a soul) and is unique to each transformer, granting them their basic personality and influencing certain physical traits. If a transformer dies, either from injury or a lack of Energon, their spark fades and might never be recovered again, as their spark typically returns to the source of positronic energy it originally came from. Some media portrays the source of these sparks as a pool of positronic energy located on Cybertron that is called the "Well of All Sparks", while other media portrays the source to be an ancient artifact simply called the "Allspark". Some stories have shown characters being able to preserve a dead transformer's spark under the right circumstances, allowing that fallen transformer to return in a repaired body (though this possibility involves great risk and becomes more unlikely as more time passes).

When a transformer is first forged, they are in a "Proto-form" state that resembles either a featureless, mannequin-like robot or a being of liquid, shifting metal. As the transformer's consciousness develops, the proto-form takes shape into a robotic form and an alternate mode is soon determined afterward. How long this process takes varies between different Transformers media. In some media, a Transformer can physically revert to a proto-form to make long space travel easier.

Along with their spark, each transformer has a mechanical "brain module" that houses their memories and regulates sensory input, as well as the transformation cog (or "T-cog") which regulates and stabilizes their transformations. A transformer can have several parts of their body replaced or upgraded, but damage to the brain module or T-cog, as well as other more sensitive internal mechanics (such as eyes and voice boxes), are unique, difficult to upgrade, and can permanently affect or disable a transformer, as well as threaten their life, if seriously damaged.

Some transformers, including several Autobots, have traits that make them part of a subset of their species. Transformers who are so massive in size they are able to convert into fortresses or cities are known as Titans, some of whom (such as Metroplex) have allied themselves with the Autobots. "City-speakers" are transformers able to uniquely commune with Titans, such as the Autobot called Windblade. Like the Decepticons, the Autobots include "combiners" in their ranks, transformers who are able to merge with other specific transformers and become a gestalt, super-robot with greater power and its own distinct personality. In some stories, transformers are given the ability to become combiners by an ancient artifact called the Enigma of Combination. In Cybertron's past, the Guardian Robots were large scale Transformers (though not as large as the Titans) who enforced authority and peace on their planet. While most Guardians are gone, one known as Omega Supreme serves alongside the Autobots. Mini-Cons (sometimes spelled Minicons) are small, human-sized transformers and, in some stories, are able to increase the power of larger transformers with whom they merge.